South Lanarkshire Council Leader Eddie McAvoy admits the local authority can't continue throwing millions of pounds at golf courses while slashing £38m from the budget

South Lanarkshire Council Leader Eddie McAvoy this week admitted the local authority can’t continue throwing millions of pounds at their golf courses – while slashing £38m from their budget over the next two years.

It has emerged that £2.36m was spent on six courses run by South Lanarkshire Leisure last year – generating an income of just £866,000.

The council leader’s candid assessment came during last week’s full council meeting when councillors agreed to slash the 2014/15 budget by £13.3m with the loss of 173 jobs.

Speaking about the money spent on golf courses, he told the council meeting: “You must think to yourself ‘Is this one of our priorities?’”

With the six courses – which includes Hamilton’s Strathclyde Park Golf Course – only generating £866,000 of income after £2.36m was spent on them, that means a difference of £1.5m.

And each of the golf courses in Hamilton, Larkhall, Lesmahgow, Biggar and two in East Kilbride, are costing the taxpayer an average of £250,000 each year.

But Councillor McAvoy insisted the council can’t continue to subsidise a host of charges while protecting frontline services as the council face further savings of £15m for 2015/16 and £23m for 2016/17.

He told the Advertiser: “We have to ask ourselves that spending £1.5m in golf courses, is that one of our priorities? Can we now afford it if we are making a loss. We have to review all services in the future.

“I want to make it crystal clear that our priorities are to help the vulnerable in society such as children and adults with special needs and the elderly. One individual’s needs costs us £200,000 per year.”

The SNP oppostion group on the council say golf charges and golf courses will have to be reviewed as part of future budget savings.

Councillor Anne Maggs, SNP Group Leader, said: “I’m a keen golfer but when we have to make savings we must protect the most vulnerable people in South Lanarkshire as much as possible.”